beauty
Iron & Wine at the Uptown Theater
We saw Iron & Wine last night at the Uptown Theater. It was such a great show! Sam Beam and his band always entertain; I love his folky grooves and chill sounds. Plus, for the backdrop, Manual Cinema were creating imagery with paper puppets, other object and even themselves, live as the music played. It was very simple but very effective and added a very cool element to the show
The opener, Jobi Riccio, was pretty great too! She has one album out so far and it’s well worth a listen:
She’s from Morrison, Colorado, near one of the greatest venues in the US, Red Rocks, she grew up with music and you can hear it in her voice and guitar. I always love finding new musicians when they open for bands I like. Plus I got a chance to chat with her at the merch booth, where she signed her LP for me!
A Few Upcoming Concerts
We have a few concerts lined up over the next few months. There is nothing live seeing a band or musician you like perform live. We’re going to see Iron and Wine in a couple of weeks at the Uptown Theater. Then, two days later, We’re going to see My Morning Jacket at the same venue. I love the Uptown, it’s a relatively small, brightly painted old theater, we’ve seen hundred of shows there over the years. My Morning Jacket’s latest album, Is, is fantastic
I’m also going to the Record Bar in May to see another favorite Messer Chups. Messer Chups is a Russian Surf Punk band who do a lot of fun covers along with originals. They are a blast to see live!
Small update: I forgot to mention the Nick Cave show I’m going to in May. I’ve seen him once before, he’s a fantastic musician with heartfelt lyrics. His latest Album, Wild God, is excellent. He’s written a couple of great, though dark books and he has a newsletter, The Red Hand Files that’s worth subscribing to. I can’t wait for this show! It’s at the Music Hall at Memorial Hall - I haven’t been there in decades!
Two Movies
There are many movies that had a significant impact on me when I was a kid. My dad would often let my brother and I watch movies that we were in no way appropriate for our age - The Exorcist) gave me so many nightmares. Two movies however, have a special, weird place in my mind. I’ve searched for years to find the names of the movies, I’ve had distinct memories from both, but I couldn’t find anything about them. Though the internet and social media can be pretty toxic these days, they can also drop little bits of joy as well. Several years ago, I decided to make a concerted effort to figure out what these movies were. After a lot of digging, I finally found one, a post-apocalyptic survival movie Damnation Alley. I’m fairly certainly a scene in this movie is the source of my aversion to cockroaches. I distinctly remember someone getting eated alive in an old car by giant cockroaches. It was released in 1977, so I would have been six at the time. I remember my dad picked up my brother and I for one of our first post-divorce outings with him. He took us to see Damnation Alley in the theater. Shortly after I rediscovered it, my wife and I streamed it; it was pretty bad but so entertaining and gratifying to fill that memory gap.
The other movie has eluded me for years, until today. I was doomscrolling Instagram Reels and came across a clip from an old movie with a young Tom Hanks about D&D, Mazes and Monters when I recognized one of the other actors, Chris Makepeace. I looked up Mazes and Monsters on IMDB and found Chris’ profile, then searched for his other early movies and found the movie that I’ve been searching for as long as I can remember! It’s a made for TV movie, released in 1982, when I was eleven. It had a huge impact on me; I remember feeling excited by the concept of romantic love and true friendship. I’m sure it impacted my psyche; part of why I’m such a hopeless romantic. Life is supposed to mean something, even if it’s self-defined. Watching bits of it now takes me back - I remember the characters like it was yesterday! It was based, very loosely on a Mark Twain Novella of the same name, The Mysterious Stranger.
It’s so strange and cool that both movies are available in full out there on the internet. I’ve been searching for the Mysterious Stranger for so long, I’m a little blown away that I came across it so randomly today! It’s like the last puzzle piece fitting into place. Now I need to find a new mystery to obsess about.
New Art for our collection by Ryan Singer
Maura and I went to the Blue Rain Gallery in the Railyard Art District yesterday in Santa Fe and discovered a local artist whose work we fell in love with. This is his Bio from Blue Rain Gallery’s website:
Ryan Singer is a Diné (Navajo) artist and painter based in Albuquerque, NM, known for his unique blend of traditional Navajo heritage and science fiction artistry. His work weaves together childhood memories with nostalgic pop culture elements, including science fiction imagery. With a strong presence in the “Indigenous Futurism” movement, Ryan’s artwork often features characters from Star Wars, a passion he’s had since 1977. He also creates contemporary, realistic portraits of Native subjects, capturing their essence with a modern appeal. Ryan’s work has earned numerous awards, including recognition from the prestigious SWAIA’s Santa Fe Indian Market, and is held in collections of museums and private collectors worldwide. Currently working towards his BFA at the University of New Mexico, Ryan continues to expand his artistic practice, collaborating with the Tamarind Institute and working towards his MFA.
We loved the whimsical yet serious nature and style of his work and the combination of imagery from his Navajo culture and SciFi/pop culture. There were several pieces that we were tempted by but we decided to wait and think about it. The folks at the gallery told us we could email them and they would ship anything we like and also mentioned that they were hosting an opening for Ryan in a couple of hours, if we wanted to meet the artist. We walked around the Railyard, ended up going to the Nuckolls Brewery for a couple of beers and decided to go back to the gallery for the opening. It was great to meet Ryan and chat with him about his work, which makes purchasing art even more special.
The piece we ended up purchasing is titled: “A Brief Moment of the Carbon Cycle”. It’s a 16” X 20”, acrylic on canvas painting done in 2024. there were some really fun Star Wars themed pieces, and a cowboy ET drinking beer, but this one stuck with us as we walked around thinking about the show. You can check out his other work on his instagram page!
Happy Birthday to me!
Another year older. This morning when I got up, I decided that would hike up Sun Mountain at sunrise; it was simply gorgeous. It’s definitely a challenging hike. It’s only about a mile and a half, but it can get pretty steep. I had to pause several times to catch my breath; I’m still acclimating to the higher altitude here. It’s also about a mile from where we’re staying so I decided to walk to the trail head. The walk there is fine, but I was pretty worn out on the way back. It was totally worth the effort! the views of Santa Fe and the surrounding mountains are amazing. I hiked to the peak once before, last time we stayed here and it was equally beautiful.
Santa Fe Birthday
We’re in Santa Fe this week; in part to celebrate our birthdays. It’s the third time Maura and I have been here together. We both love it here! It’s very different from where we live; a much more stark beauty. The culture, food, and environment - it’s such a cool place. The Museum of International Folk Art is an amazing, magical collection of, well, folk art. The last time we were here, we stayed at a B and B near Sun Mountain - each day I would hike a little further up to the top, then chicken out, mostly because I knew I’d have to hike back down. The last day we were here I made it to the top, which was just amazing - great views of Santa Fe, the sunrise, everything. We’re staying in the same place for this visit and I don’t plan to wait until the last day to make it to the top this time. I didn’t go up this morning, but I’m still acclimating to the thinner air here. I did take some pictures on my hike this morning, it’s just so pretty here!
Low
We’ve been trying to see one of our favorite bands, Low, who were touring for their latest album, "Hey What,” until very recently. Maura bought me tickets to see them in Davenport, Iowa, for my birthday. We drove up, excited to finally hear some tracks off their latest album live, and the show was canceled due to COVID-19. We had a fun time in Davenport anyway, but it was a huge bummer. The show was rescheduled, and we planned to return to Davenport; we even booked the hotel, and we both came down with COVID. We found out they were finally going to come to Kansas City, opening for Death Cab for Cutie (weird match-up, in my opinion, but whatever). We bought tickets, but that show was postponed, and Low was no longer going to open. It seemed like we just weren’t meant to see them again! We did see them once several years ago at the old Record Bar when it was in Westport (we could walk home from there!) But the latest album was simply stunning; I still get chills and tear up when I listen to it. And I can’t help but turn it up a little too loud.
Alan Sparhawk’s and Mimi Parker’s harmonies over the cacophonous instrumentation and drums were, well, kind of beyond words. I really can’t do the albums justice here. It may not be for everyone, but I LOVED where they were going. Don’t get me wrong, they were (were! 😔) prolific; they didn’t create an album I didn’t like. You definitely have to be in the right mood for some of their early stuff, it can be very slow-paced, but it’s just as beautiful. The latest albums were getting a little more gritty and experimental, which contrasted wonderfully with their voices. Go ahead, listen and listen loud. I bet you will be moved.
Sadly, we will never have the chance to see them perform live again; Mimi Parker died today after having fought ovarian cancer for the last couple of years. Alan posted the news and was instantly heartbroken. Partly because we’ve been trying so hard to see them over the last year or so, but primarily for her and Alan. I can’t even imagine what they went through and what he’s going through now. They worked so well together. Their music is beautiful, incomparable; there will be nothing like it in the world again. I love listening to their records via streaming, but live music was the true experience. That’s true for most musicians, but it was especially true for them. Farewell, Mimi Parker, and deepest condolences to you, Alan Sparhawk. Know that your fans are there for you.